What are the differences between a turnkey project and a strategic alliance?
What will be an ideal response?
When one company designs, constructs, and tests a production facility for a client, the agreement is called a turnkey (build——operate——transfer) project. The term turnkey project is derived from the understanding that the client, who normally pays a flat fee for the project, is expected to do nothing more than simply 'turn a key' to get the facility operating. The company awarded a turnkey project completely prepares the facility for its client.
Similar to management contracts, turnkey projects tend to be large-scale and often involve government agencies. But unlike management contracts, turnkey projects transfer special process technologies or production-facility designs to the client. They typically involve the construction of power plants, airports, seaports, telecommunication systems, and petrochemical facilities that are then turned over to the client. Under a management contract, the supplier of a service retains the asset–the managerial expertise.
With turnkey projects, one company hires another to complete a specified scope of work. Strategic alliances, on the other hand, involve a level of cooperation between companies that choose to partner to achieve joint objectives.
A relationship whereby two or more entities cooperate (but do not form a separate company) to achieve the strategic goals of each is called a strategic alliance. Similar to joint ventures, strategic alliances can be formed for relatively short periods or for many years, depending on the goals of the participants. Strategic alliances can be established between a company and its suppliers, its buyers, and even its competitors. In forming such alliances, sometimes each partner purchases a portion of the other's stock. In this way, each company has a direct stake in its partner's future performance. This decreases the likelihood that one partner will try to take advantage of the other.
You might also like to view...
Which of the following channel alternatives is most suited to handle complex products and transactions?
A) sales forces B) the Internet C) dealers D) telemarketers E) direct mails
GE employs different sales forces within different product and service divisions of its major businesses
For example, within GE Infrastructure, the company has separate sales forces for aviation, energy, transportation, and water processing products and technologies. GE has most likely adopted a ________ sales-force structure. A) market B) product C) customer D) territorial E) complex